London 🇬🇧❤️

It has now been two weeks in London! It has been quite the shock but I am excited to be here and grateful for the job. I am now volunteering at Hostel one in Notting Hill, London. It’s a very posh neighborhood which has been nice and all the staff and guests have been supportive and welcoming. We have 7 volunteers and 3 managers, our shifts are spilt into 4. Morning shift 10am-2:30pm this person gives the daily walking tour. Reception help 2:30-9:00pm which helps check in new guests, does laundry, and helps with dinner prep/cleaning. Party shift 5:30-12:30pm who shops for/cooks dinner for all the guests & staff, facilitates drinking games, then leads the nighly pubcrawl. Last is overnight 11:30pm- 7:30am who is responsible for late night check-ins and deep cleaning the kitchen, bathrooms, floors, laundry, etc… The overnight shift is rough since you basicaly sleep the whole next day. I would say this is the hardest job I have ever had since in addition to the physical shifts you are constantly on, socializing with guests and helping all your coworkers with their shifts, then at the end of the day… you still live in a hostel dorm 😂 But it has also been a blast and has so many perks. I am really enjoying London and seeing the sights slowly but surely.

An abridged rundown of what has happened in the past 2 weeks:

• Derek came to visit right away, as always it was comforting to see a familar face.

• Hung with Emma, a friend I met in Budapest. She is from NYC but lives here now.

• Spent a weekend with Skye, another friend I met in Budapest. She is from Sydney but is traveling Europe all summer. We got on so well and are already counting down the next time we can meet up.

• Saw Gareth, one of the ski workers I met in France. He is spending the summer in the US but grew up here and was able to show me around for an afternoon before leaving.

• Also saw Marco, the skipper who hired me to work the private charter in Italy in July. We went over what to expect in Italy and he gave me some good YW advice.

• I’v given tours of SOHO, Trafalgar square, and the royal sights.

• Have led 4 pubcrawls (party shift), and attended even more.

• Cooked a few group dinners along with practiced YW meals that I had to turn in pictures of.

• Have seen live blues at a place called Blues Kitchen twice in Camden.

• Gone to the British Museum.

• Seen London Bridge, Big Ben, The Eye, Portobello Market, Hyde Part, Kensington & Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey and lots of other little detours.

The turnover rate here is high since it is such a demanding job, on average most people only stay 5 weeks which is what I’ll be doing. Since I have arrive we have already said goodbye to 4 people and welcomed 2 new. But now that I have started getting the hang of things it should be easier to find a bit of balance and start training new volunteers.